


Nicktoons: Syndicate Rising

by GemsAndMayhem (NicktoonsReunited)



Series: Wave 1 [1]
Category: Danny Phantom, Invader Zim, Nicktoons (Video Games), SpongeBob SquarePants (Cartoon), Tak (Video Games), The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:41:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28645392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NicktoonsReunited/pseuds/GemsAndMayhem
Summary: Set after the events of Nicktoons: Globs of Doom, the Evil Syndicate returns to take revenge on the heroes and establish world domination on a massive scale. Overwhelmed and stretched thin, it's up to Sam to recruit faces old and new to unite and fight their way to becoming the greatest team of all time... for a bunch of kids.
Relationships: Danny Fenton/Sam Manson
Series: Wave 1 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2104221
Comments: 8
Kudos: 4





	1. Warm Welcome

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, you are you, and I am me (Gems). These are my friends Styx and Max. We have been writing together for some time and are very excited to share our vast universe with you! We hope you enjoy it! :)

Volcanic tunnels, long since abandoned, had begun to echo with the sound of tapping carapace on stone and metal. The last living souls to set foot in this domain were chosen heroes, coming together for the greater goal of protecting their worlds from something bigger than themselves, armed with nothing but their custom equipment and a temporary alliance with those who previously committed great evil. Who could know what these latest visitors could mean for the future of this secret location? What intentions would they have?

“Be careful with that microwave oven!”

The Wise Old Crab could only sigh as another crash had occurred shortly after, followed by a half-hearted exclamation of “I’m OK!”. The other hermit crabs responded in turn with giggles or a mocking tone repeating their elder’s words. And they said moving day would be easy…

“And I thought moving day would be easy,” The Wise Old Crab rolled his eyes, gazing at the grander chamber he was standing in, “Giving the former lair of the Mawgu a new coat of paint, some potted plants… it’ll make for a very nice winter cottage. Just as soon as everything is packed in one piece.”

“Are pieces OK?” Another crab had asked, hastily shoveling glass back into the new opening of the microwave.

“Just… find the glue, please,” The elder urged, gesturing with his walking stick, “And we can move the espresso machine over there.”

“ELDER! OH, ELDER!” One particular hermit crab had scuttled into the room in a panic, eyes shaking as he lunged for the elder’s attention, “Come quick, something’s coming!”

“Is it more of that orange goo?” The elder sounded hopeful. That stuff really helped his joints settle when lathered on, “Because as I have said before, that is not dangerous, not anymore.”

“No, it is… it’s…!” The follower had trouble finding their words as another crash cut them off. One big enough to boom through the caverns and almost seemed to shake the ground. Every hermit crab had stopped what they were doing, frozen in shock.

Then came another crash, sounding a bit closer… and followed by laughter?

The Wise Old Crab narrowed his eyes, moving the shaken follower behind him and his walking stick, “....?”

Three more noises blasted forth, each closer than the last, until some natives actively retreated into their shells for protection.

And then… silence.

“Is… is it gone?” asked a scared crab.

The Wise Old Crab continued to narrow his eyes to the reinforced door, not trusting it for a moment. But before he could open his mouth to speak, to answer, and calm the nerves of his fellow islanders, the steel door had been blown open. Hermit crabs cried and fled, running around in a blind panic as something was approaching from the smoke.

Something humanoid, tall, and in some places…  _ curvy _ .

“Now  _ that _ , boys, is how you make an entrance,” Beautiful Gorgeous smirked, pleased with the reaction of her arrival, “And such a warm welcome home party, aren’t you just the sweetest~.”

“Such “high” regard from one who let the strongest amongst us do most of the work,” An accented voice had followed her into view, Technus clearly laying on the sarcasm to the woman next to him, “Even without a proper recharge, I, Technus, remain undaunted by the…”

“CUT THE CHATTER, SPARKY!” A loud tone barked to the tall ghost, grumbling as he leaped forward ahead of the previous two. A single eye scanned the room, falling on the monitor in the far corner, “First thing I want now is some of that sweet, sweet height! Sure the hammer’s a plus, but who’s gonna look down at a new and improved Plankton? No one that’s who!” A young hermit crab had stopped to look down at Plankton, amused from his ranting.

Naturally, Plankton nearly bit his claw off, “BUZZ OFF, CRUSTACEAN!”

“ _ Honestly _ ,” A tired voice sighed, deep bags under the eyes of Tlaloc as he spread some dust over the shelled child. He didn’t care as the young crab started to hallucinate, seeing nightmarish creatures as it fled once more, “You all… are too  **loud** , and too  **irritating** for long-term endurance…”

“And you’re as engaging as a wet blanket,” Beautiful remarked.

“In the Arctic,” Technus added.

“50 leagues below sea level,” Plankton growled.

“Oh look, there they go again,” The youngest voice had decided to speak, an air of superiority to him as he adjusted his glasses. Dib Membrane couldn’t contain his smirk, “The evil villains can’t get along… must be a day that ends in Y.”

“Shut your yap; you’re in the same boat as us!” Plankton snapped.

“Unlike some people, I’m trying to SAVE my home, not rule over it!” Dib countered, glaring down at the smaller creature.

“Funny way of showing it there, boy,” Tlaloc cut in.

“T-The…!” The Wise Old Crab finally found his voice, taking a wary step back from the five arrivals, “The Evil Syndicate…!”

This had all five antagonists look over to the elder, each with a smirk or glimmer of pride in the fear they created… except for Dib, who looked more annoyed at being lumped together with everyone else.

“Yes, you know us~” Beautiful brushed some hair off of her shoulder.

“But… but the heroes defeated you! The Vessel of Portentia…!”

“Worthless pile of SCRAP!” Plankton huffed, “Falls apart after just one little intergalactic brawl between a giant orange snot bubble. Do you have any idea how long we’ve been up there, floating helplessly in the vacuum of space?! DO YOU, OLD MAN?!” Plankton hopped onto the Wise Old Crab’s claw and grabbed him by his headdress, yelling into his face.

“Too long,” Came Tlaloc’s bitter reply, “Much… too… long.”

“Well, that’s the way the sandcastle crumbles, I suppose,” The Wise Old Crab flicked his claw and knocked Plankton down off of it, gaining some courage against the intruders, “You all know the way back to your worlds, so best be on your way…”

“On the contrary,” Technus snapped his fingers, and electric charges appeared out of thin air, circling whatever remaining hermit crabs that had not fled earlier, trapping them in place. 

“We’ve been talking and decided to raze this place of all its valuable technology first. Then, possibly blow it up.”

“Jury’s out on that one,” Beautiful leaned in closer to the Wise Old Crab, faking a sweet smile, “But if you tell us where the high-powered weapons and priceless jewels are, I won’t have to split your shell in two~.”

“No deal!” The Wise Old Crab held his ground, “Heed my words… leave this place now, or else the… the…!” The elder started to stammer. He didn’t think he would get this far, and The Wise Old Crab knew he couldn’t repel the five of them by himself, “The Mawgu will return and remove you himself!”

“The Mawgu?” Beautiful raised a brow, “He should be long gone by now…”

“Unless,” Tlaloc started to have his doubts, “He really has returned to this dimension… that crab’s as crazy as a coconut, but I’m not going to have my skull cracked by such a beast.”

“I’ve never heard of a Mawgu…” Dib was just as skeptical. Sure, the lair they were in was named after it, as were their old weapons… before ZIM and friends destroyed them along with the Vessel of Portentia. Just thinking about it made him angry.

“I’m not surprised,” Tlaloc explained, “The Mawgu is so powerful, so ruthless, even I have heard of him before venturing to this island…” The witch doctor took a step back, “If he’s truly come home, I’m out of here.”

“I, Technus, the Master of Technology, do not fear this Mawgu,” Technus boasted, puffing out his chest, “But understands how threatened you feel, and thus bid you farewell.”

“Yeah, not buying it buster,” Beautiful narrowed her eyes and was about to strike the Wise Old Crab down when a young hermit crab cried out for help.

“Chosen Ones, please help us…!”

That got Dib’s attention, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, “Look, I’m flattered, I really am, but I’m just here to get rid of ZIM. Unless you’re some kind of alien, I don’t really care about giant talking crab people, sooo...” Dib just shrugged. It’s not his problem, after all.

“Hmm, taste like crab, talk like people…” Plankton mumbled to himself. It was then the Syndicate realized he had wandered off to the supercomputer toward the back left of the room, “I might need a few of you for…  _ help _ , back at the Chum Bucket. Heheheheh…~.”

“Hang on a moment,” Tlaloc and the others moved to join Dib next to the young crab, while Plankton hopped up to the super computer’s keyboard, jumping from key to key, “Chosen Ones, as in plural… I smell a prophecy.”

“No, that’s called,  _ no indoor plumbing _ ,” Beautiful waved a hand before her nose, earning an amused snicker from Technus, “You think you’d use some of that… hoodoo pocus, to make yourself a shower.”

“Stop your tedious prattle,” The witch doctor cracked his knuckles, looming over the child, “And you… tell me more about this  **prophecy** .”

“Leave the child be!” The elder tried to call them back to him, “He knows not what he speaks!”

“Actually, it seems he  _ does _ know a thing or two; check this out,” Plankton pointed to what was on screen, giving details of a group of heroes and how they would free Volcano Island from the Mawgu's control.

“Only the Nine can save us from the evils of the Mawgu,” Tlaloc read, “On the day he frees himself from his prison… corrupting all who touch the ooze, yadda yadda yadda…” The bored tone in his voice reflected from the information he found. No mention of his enemy Tak anywhere, just a picture of several heads carved in stone at the bottom.

“ **ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!** ” Plankton yelled in rage at the image, “ **IT’S SPONGEBOB, AND HIS BAND OF FOOLS!** ” Sure enough, SpongeBob was not only clearly represented in the monument, but also Patrick, Sandy, and even Squidward.

“The ghost boy and his little friends,” Technus huffed.

“With  _ Neutron _ ,” Beautiful sneered, “And… beaver boy.”

“Hm…” Tlaloc stroked his goatee, “That explains how they were able to defeat us… four chosen ones on the same side  _ is _ a mighty force...”

“Why do  _ they _ get a statue of themselves…?” Dib grumbled, jealous of the admiration. It should be his face carved in stone, for capturing ZIM and selling him off to be studied and dissected, praised for toppling an alien armada single-handedly!

“I think your fish is in the wrong pot, kid,” Plankton turned attention to the neighboring terminal, leaping over from button to button with haste.

“You’re one to talk,” Dib brushed the comment off, “All of you. Finding out all your enemies are some kind of, super special big deal… sounds like the time you all run back to your worlds, with your tails between your legs…  **again** ,” Despite being the youngest of the group, he sure sounded confident in his assessment.

But the longer Beautiful Gorgeous stared at the image, skimming over the file, the more thinking she did. Which led to her breaking out a coy little smile, “Actually… we’ll be doing the opposite of that, thank you.”

“Huh? Why?”

“You all  _ know _ how long we’ve been stranded there, watching the world so far away from us as we struggled to return,” The spy began before Tlaloc cut her off.

“Felt like ten years… maybe twelve...”

“Well,” The woman started to pace back and forth, “In that time, the heroes think they’ve won… that they’ve nothing else to bother with. Peace returning to all the land… so their guard is down,” She smiled a bit, as Technus was catching on, “They’d  **expect** for us to turn back to where we came from, and try again on our own… but instead, we’ll show them exactly the kind of force the Evil Syndicate is capable of!”

“Here here!” Technus cheered.

“On the condition that we include Tak in our little ploy,” Tlaloc wanted to be clear, “Then…  **I’m in~.** ”

Dib weighed his options while the adults rallied together. He wasn’t  **evil** ; he was out to save his town from an alien invasion! From the IRKEN armada! If anything, he was more of a hero than any of the so-called heroes he’s met during this whole crazy experience!

“ _ And you know _ ,” Beautiful sensed Dib’s hesitation, flicking the sickle-shaped hair spike with a gloved hand as she walked by him, “Green bean’s probably made friends with all those other heroes… which means if they’re on the same side, they’ll help him do  _ whatever _ he needs to do~.”

“If they’re REAL heroes, then they won’t!” Dib snapped back, “This is MY world,  **MY** town!”

“Really?” Technus nearly held back a laugh, pointing a thumb over to the side, “I don’t see your name on it!”

The lair’s upper levels had gateways that led back to each of their homeworlds, an obvious sign above every one of them. While it was evident some said, “Bikini Bottom” or “Amity Park,” the one that made Dib’s blood boil was the one for his universe.

**ZIM’s** Town.

Fists shaking at his sides, Beautiful knew she’d rope the kid into staying with them. One less liability… and who knows? He might even be useful in the long run.

“Of all the underhanded…” Dib was seething before speaking up, “ALRIGHT, I’M IN TOO! But to be clear… I am  **NOT** one of you! This is simply a case of mutual goals, and nothing more.”

“Whatever you say to help you sleep at night…” Tlaloc mused.

Right after, a terminal started to light up and charge itself, Plankton springing off of the keyboard onto the pad on the ground, enveloping himself in light. The humans had to shield their eyes from the flash while Technus just watched.

The Wise Old Crab had taken this moment to flee while their backs were turned. He needed to do something… and fast.

“Yes… YESSSS!” Plankton rejoiced, an arc of energy running between his antennas, “The power, IT’S RETURNING TO ME! The energy! The dominance!  **THE HAMMER TO HIT STUFF WITH!** ” True to form, an orange and purple hammer was created in his tiny grasp, as his size started to grow, and grow until he nearly tripled in size and kept on going.

“Finally… ULTIMATE POWER IS  **MINE! HEHEHEHEHEH!** ”

“ _ Ahem _ ,” Technus cleared his throat, as everyone continued to look down at Plankton per usual, “You forget it only makes you the size of a small child, yes?”

Plankton looked around at eye level. Dib was still taller, but only by a few inches, it seemed.

“...  **SO?!** ”

“ _ So _ ,” Beautiful put her hands on her hips, “Are you in or not, one eye?”

“Pass,” Plankton started to take his leave, tucking his Mawgu Hammer away for later.

“Pass?” Beautiful was actually surprised to hear that from him.

“Really...?” Tlaloc was skeptical, “ **You** , of all creatures… just letting that porous punk off the hook?”

“Oh no, SpongeBoob will feel my revenge, but I’m passing on the whole “teamwork” thing,” Plankton scaled the ladder to the Bikini Bottom entryway and looked down on the others for a change, “I’ve been apart of this Syndicate since it was led by Daddy’s Little Princess’... daddy. Point is, it didn’t work then, it ain’t working’ now.”

“And how would you know?” Dib couldn’t help but ask, “OK, dumb question… but I thought villains didn’t give up because they were too stubborn, or prideful… or stupid; it was one of the three! I’m pretty sure!”

“Hear me now, blimp brain: It’s not worth it, it’s just not worth it!” He gave one last condescending wave to the remaining four, “Goodbye everyone; I’ll remember you all in therapy~.”

And with that, Plankton hurried off through the entryway, so he could head back home and try to take the Krabby Patty Secret Formula for himself, the way it was supposed to be.

“Should we stop him...?” Tlaloc wondered after a moment of silence.

“Let him go,” Beautiful dismissed the single-celled villain with a wave of her hand, taking a seat at the supercomputer and kicking her heels up, “He’ll come crawling back sooner or later.”

“Yes, and in the meantime,” Technus cracked his fingers, “Papa’s got work to do on all these advanced electronics!”

“Aren’t you going to help?” Dib didn’t see Beautiful get up to start forming their new base of operations.

“Sweetie, I’m the  _ leader _ … which means by default, I’ll be supervising you all to get things right,” The spy just started to file her nails where she sat, not even looking to the paranormal investigator. 

“Which by extension means… making sure  **our movers** know exactly what goes where~.”

She passively mentioned the trapped hermit crabs, who were shaking in their shells at the mention of their forced services.

Dib only had one thing to say about that.

“Sweet. Now, about that espresso machine…~.”

* * *

  
  


The acquired help of a few dozen native hermit crabs could really turn a volcanic base into a cozy lair. The main chamber now had a large table right in its center, technical decorations, and even some house plants were scattered about here and there.

“You know,” Dib had to admit, “All things considered... this doesn’t look horrible.”

“I have an eye for decorating,” Beautiful praised herself, “While your eye is just swollen…”

“I said I’m a part of the Swollen Eyeball,  **not** eyeball swelling!” Dib clarified, shoving his briefcase towards her as proof.

“Uh-huh, sure,” Beautiful didn’t much care to make such a distinction known. His head was already swollen to the size of Jupiter; what else did he want, a medal?

“Security system is online!” Technus’ voice ran over the speakers throughout the lair, “Cameras, traps… the whole cat and kibble!”

“Kit and caboodle,” The humans corrected.

“That’s what I said! Does the powerful, Technus, need to repeat h…” The powerful Technus was cut off when Dib muted the system with one press from the remote.

“Told you we needed that,” He remarked, seeing Technus mouth off to no avail.

“Not bad kid… not bad,” The tall beauty was enjoying the antics some, especially if it meant irking Technus.

“Which in this case means…  **very bad** ,” Tlaloc darkly chuckled as he made his way into the main chamber, “And speaking of… I’ve had a moment to confer with the native wildlife of this island…”

“And…?” Dib didn’t see the point of it.

“And after I’ve  **hexed** them, are all looking for that old crab out in the jungle,” Tlaloc finished, washing his hands together as faint traces of pink powder were kicked up into the air, “I prefer not to leave  **loose ends** , where possible…”

“Speaking of loose ends,” Beautiful held a finger to her cheek as if she were thinking, “I believe that’s plenty of time for one end to  _ tie itself up _ .”

“Hey, uh,  _ kid _ in the room,” Dib cleared his throat, “Hello?”

“What are you going on about now?” Tlaloc was just as lost, “Unless you mean that insignificant speck called Plankton.”

“Oh, I do, bird brain,” She flicked the doctor’s headdress and snatched the remote from Dib, “I certainly do.”

She unmuted the spectral master of tech, just long enough for him to let slip the information she was waiting for, “... indignation to silence me, I won’t even mention one of the portals activating from Bikini Bottom until you guys unmute the vocal resonance, that is…”

“Yeah yeah,  **we get it!** Loud digital  _ windbag _ …” The curvy spy was already climbing up the ladder to the Bikini Bottom portal, with Tlaloc and Dib tailing after her.

Each entryway would lead to another room, mostly barren beyond three portals set into the ground. Of the three, one was raised and filled with purple spatial energy, while the other two had lowered onto the floor, out of use for one reason or another.

Technus sparked out of one of the wires to physically join them by the portal, “If it is who I think it is, then that explains the screen,” He motioned to the large monitor toward the back of the entryway, which showed the Chum Bucket restaurant covered in dents like it took a beating.

“Ow… ow… owww…” A defeated, crumbled voice came out of the portal as what appeared to be a flattened mass turned out to be Plankton, slowly crawling forward until his hand hit Beautiful’s foot.

He looked up, giving off an audible crack as she only smirked down at him, feeling as superior as ever, “ _ Back so soon?~ _ ”

“Get off my back, woman…” Plankton groaned.

“What even  _ happened _ ?” Dib asked as Plankton finally righted himself.

“I’ll tell ya what happened…  **SPONGEBOB HAPPENED!** ” He snapped, going on a rant, “ **HIM AND HIS OTHERWORLDLY FRIENDS, CHASING ME PORTAL TO PORTAL AFTER THE SECRET FORMULA** , I just…!” His tone sounded much more defeated, dropping to his knees and sniveling, “I just can’t take it…! It’s not fair!  **A BABY SAT ON ME!** ”

“It’s  _ almost _ as if you’d be better off with a group of your own to join forces with,” Technus reminded, enjoying the anguish Plankton was showing.

Plankton sniffled and wiped his eye, “Y… you would?” He couldn’t believe his ears.

“Though, we did find ourselves your  **replacement** in the meantime…” Tlaloc mused.

Plankton’s mood instantly flipped, “ **YOU WHAT?!** ”

“Don’t be so  **one-eyed** about it,” Dib scolded, “I’ll need whoever I can get to take down ZIM! Even if that means putting up with her “royal” highness!”

“I’ll have my revenge over every Juju in the realm… and every Pupanunu in the village,” Tlaloc swore, making a fist till his knuckles turned white.

“World domination will finally be within my grasp,” Technus mused, sparks of electric energy coursing over him, “All will bow before my electronic might!”

“YEAH!” Plankton chimed in, filled with a new vigor for payback, “ **NOTHING CAN STOP THE SYNDICATE!** ”

Beautiful felt the evil intentions of everyone beside her. If her father could lead three others to work together, then she could surely lead five. This would not be like those times in the past. This would be different.

As she gazed at the changing screen, the leader of the Evil Syndicate saw one of their many targets… a pineapple under the sea. It brought a smile to her lips.

“ **Nothing~.** ”


	2. Collapsed Neutron

The sounds of screaming and laughing kids were farthest from Jimmy’s present mind at the moment as he gazed out the window, looking up at the cloudy sky this afternoon. He had not really been engaging with his classmates for some time, always nose deep in more algorithms and equations than usual.

“Hey, c’mon, Jim.”

“Huh?” Jimmy looked away to see Carl urging him to get up. This was their stop, and that meant it was time to go home, “Oh, thanks Carl,” He reaffirmed his backpack over his shoulders and proceeded out to their block. He saw Cindy was already ahead with Libby to her house, likely for another sleepover or whatever else girls did with their spare time.

But it was clear one was much more excited than the other for the invitation…

“You feeling alright, Jimmy?” Carl’s nasally tone sounded worried, “You got these two little circles under your eyes like you haven’t been sleepin’ too well…”

“I’ve always had those,” Jimmy dismissed with a smile, breaking some of the tension.

“Oh, I know… but these seem more… circle-ier than usual,” The Wheezer boy sniffled, “Are you still looking for Sheen...?”

“How could I not be?” Jimmy’s shoulders slumped, “It’s been two months since he went missing, and it was  _ my _ rocket that launched him into space… no communications, no particle trails, barely any polarized shifts in the spatial compendium…”

Jimmy peeked over to Carl, who looked as if he was spacing out himself, “... ya know, I wish we could train a polar bear to ride llamas and let ‘em all race around in a fluffy field of flowers~”

Jimmy couldn’t help but smile. Carl was right… in his own way. He needed to relax despite how frustrated he was with his lack of success.

“Thanks, Carl, you’re right.”

“About the polar bears?”

“Y… kinda. I’ll try to take it a bit easier. Maybe you can come over to my house; we play some video games?” Jimmy smiled at his best friend.

“Aw Jim, you know I’d love to, especially with my new llama simulator game… but my parents are getting packed for our trip…” Carl frowned as the two approached their houses and could see his parents loading their car with piles of dehumidifiers and other allergy medicines.

“Gas Planet,” Jimmy cursed, “I thought that was next weekend, on the 15th!”

“Today is the 15th,” Carl reminded, “But I’ll call ya when we get to the ol’ Wheezer family reunion. I’ll even save you some of my aunt’s potato-free potato salad.”

“Looking forward to it, Carl,” Jimmy pat his friend on the back right as a stack of suitcases toppled over on his dad, “Also, I think your dad is buried under a suitcase.”

Carl yelped, “Hang on, dad, I’m comin’! See ya later, Jimmy!” The stout boy had undoubtedly tried to rush over and unbury his dad, but his version of sprinting was an average person’s fast walk.

Jimmy couldn’t help but chuckle as the other boy had to use his inhaler to catch his breath. He was glad Carl would be out with family and have a good time, but it did have him feeling a bit lonely without Sheen around. At least he’d always have...

“Goddard!” The genius exclaimed as he made his way to the front door of his house, seeing his mechanical canine by the back gate before he could enter. It  _ was _ a bit surprising since Goddard usually waited by the bus stop or inside the house when he came home from school, “What’s going on, boy? Did you miss me?”

“BARK!” Goddard looked excited, but his movements seemed less fluid. He had to periodically pause due to sudden shaking as an electrical discharge released around him. He whined, tilting his head as he looked to his master.

“Goddard, what’s wrong?” Jimmy abandoned his porch to inspect his pet closer. Holding his head in his hands, he couldn’t find any exposed wires or fridge magnets on the outside. No punctured coils, no leaking fluids. Exterior alone, he seemed fine… 

But the flickering of his eye lights suggested otherwise.

“BA-AARK…!” Goddard glitched out. That made Jimmy make up his mind.

“Oh no, I hope it’s not a virus… c’mon boy, homework will have to wait… to the lab!” Jimmy went around back to his clubhouse to see what was wrong with his best friend and pet.

Goddard slowly followed after, his eyes flickering between yellow and green.

* * *

  
  


Thanks to Jimmy’s efforts to locate a missing Sheen, the lab wasn’t as clean as it could have been. Empty cans of Purple Flurp laid scattered across the floor, along with a few wrappers for both candy and granola bars alike. Jimmy tossed his backpack beside his console’s chair, reflecting on the state of the room.

“Carl might definitely be right on this one…” He admitted only to himself and Goddard, kicking a stray can out of his way as Goddard trudged in. The can still had some Flurp left inside and left a trail over to the large machine in the corner, “Nonono!” He quickly reclaimed the can before any of the soda could spill onto his invention.

Jimmy sighed, smiling softly as he ran a hand along the console for the Universe Portal Machine that proudly stood tall despite the dust that clung to it. It was his crowning achievement, a super invention like none else before it or after.

“I wonder how the others are doing…” He couldn’t help but wonder, lost in the nostalgia of past adventures. The only thing that took him away from it was another tired whine from Goddard, “Alright Goddard. Hook up to your charging station, and I’ll run some diagnostics. When we’re done, I have an old dense wrench with your name on it~”

That was enough to have Goddard moving again, but he moved stiffer than usual, his head bouncing around less. Jimmy just wrote it off as a side effect to feeling under the weather and hopped into his computer chair, “Now, let’s see what the problem is…”

Goddard plugged himself in and went to sleep mode as a surge of electricity flowed from the cable into the socket. Ths discharge had visibly traveled up the wires bound against the walls over to Jimmy’s computer screen, causing a massive flash as the keyboard sparked.

Startled, Jimmy shielded his face and shut his eyes as he waited for the phenomenon to end. And from the darkness, he was greeted with only more darkness as he opened his eyes, “That’s odd…” He mused, “VOX, activate back-up generator.”

He waited for a moment, and nothing happened, so he repeated the command, “VOX, activate the generator.”

Again, nothing happened.

“Pukin’ Pluto,” Jimmy pressed a button on his watch, letting its flashlight setting give a sliver of light in the dark, “Bad time for a power surge. I’ll have to check the circuit breaker…” Hopping to his feet, Jimmy made his way to one of the doors delving deeper into his lab before his screen whirled to life on its own.

“I believe you have bigger bytes to worry about, HAAHAHAHA!” Came a new voice over the audio, one much too masculine to be even close to VOX.

Surprised, Jimmy turned and was face to face with a green visage on his screen, grinning behind a pair of sunglasses, “It’s you… Nicolai Technus! How did you get in here? Get out of my lab!”

“Uh-uh-uh,” Technus waved a finger at the boy genius, “Technus v2.5 does not divulge information about his plans!”

“Oh, really?” Jimmy crossed his arms, glaring.

“YES! That’s what the latest patch was for!” Technus wiggled his brows, showing off, “And I’m not going anywhere… in fact,  **neither** of us are!”

“ _ LOCKDOWN INITIATED _ ,” Came the female voice of VOX, “ _ SECURITY BREACH. LOCKDOWN INITIATED _ .”

The lab started to shake as blast shields had fallen along the outside, stopping anything from coming in… but also anything from coming out.

“Now you’re trapped like a lab rat!” Technus continued to gloat. Jimmy scanned the room for anything he might be able to use. Goddard was still inactive on his charging bed, no doubt affected by the spectral virus like his lab. He wasn’t much of an expert in terms of handling these phantasmal projections…

But he knew someone who was.

“Laugh all you want,” Jimmy went to the Universe Portal Machine in the corner, “Let’s see how funny it is when Danny Phantom comes and kicks your corporeal butt!”

However, as he was typing the coordinates for Amity Park, Technus only grinned wider. The machine’s console started to spark to life, but just as quickly began to short circuit and crash.

“NOOO!” Jimmy was forced to jump back and avoid being hurt, as his prized invention was overloaded and fried before his very eyes. Smoke leaked from it as it fell into disrepair.

Technus couldn’t laugh harder.

Jimmy stared at the fallen device, face channeling all the disheartened emotions that were welling up inside of him. He had met some of the most extraordinary people with that machine, going on some of his most daring adventures… but he had a back-up plan.

Jimmy tore himself away from the sight, rushing to the side toolbox and rummaging through wrenches, screwdrivers, and an occasional snack roll to find a worn old metal box no bigger than a garage door opener.

He pressed some of the buttons, trying to establish a connection, “ **Danny** ! Come in, Danny, it’s Jimmy!  _ Technus _ is in my lab!”

No response, barely any static.

“C’mon, please work… SpongeBob! Turner! Anyone,  _ everyone _ ! I need help…!”

Jimmy begged, but much like the machine itself, the smaller device had also sputtered and fried in his grasp.

“No one can save you now, Neutron!” Technus reminded him, “You’ve no more little friends in this world or the next! Nothing left to do but sit tight until the next step in…  _ the plan. _ ”

At that pause, Jimmy picked up the hesitation that stopped Technus from saying more than he should have. And naturally, if Technus was in Retroville, then the rest of the Syndicate was at large along with him.

“Alright, Technus,  _ you got me _ ,” Jimmy faced the screen and rocked on his heels, hands behind his back as he looked up to the ghost in his machines, “I’ll just sit tight. You’ve  _ clearly _ got me outmatched.”

“How right you are to notice this,” Technus beamed in triumph, “Of us both, I,  **Technus** , am the biggest genius!”

“Uh-huh…  _ whatever _ you say~”

Jimmy smiled as his watch had finished sending the email without any interference.


	3. Phantom Pains

“That takes care of that mess,” Danny Phantom cleaned the dust and ectoplasm off of his hands, the sweat upon his brow a lot lighter than it had used to be, “Man, it’s either I’m getting better, or these ghosts are getting easier.”

“The Box Ghost… agrees to disagree…” Came the last words of the laughable specter who dared call himself Danny’s enemy before he collapsed into unconsciousness. Danny just rolled his eyes and took out the Fenton Thermos, right when his Fenton Phone earpiece started to ring.

“Danny, are you done yet?” Came a male’s voice.

“Yup,” Danny sucked up the Box Ghost with a press of a button, “Box Ghost all boxed up, put Youngblood in time-out, and wrangled up whatever ghost beaver was let loose at the mall,” Danny put the cap of the thermos back on, “I’m headed back now, Tucker.”

“You  _ might _ want to take your time,” A female voice warned.

Danny raised a brow before he could take off into the Amity Park night, “Sam? What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing,” Sam sounded like she was stalling, “Just kind of…  **mobbed** right now, it’s fine, Danny.”

“Yeah, dude,  _ no rush _ coming home,” Tucker agreed.

Danny didn’t seem convinced. After everything he’s been through with Tucker and Sam, he didn’t understand what they wouldn’t tell him. Maybe something was wrong, another ghost? Something worse?

“I’m headed  _ right _ back, hang on,” Danny raised his arms and took off to the sky, but not before putting the Fenton Phone on silent, even over their joint efforts to talk him out of it. It was funny how even after everything had changed for him and his friends, how much still kind of stayed the same. He was still fighting ghosts, saving people, and trying to crank out a literary essay to Mr. Lancer for at least a B-.

The moon was full tonight over the darkened town, and the quiet howl of the wind as he flew was near calming despite his rush home. It was brief, but Danny reflected on what his future was shaping up to be.

His eyes perked up, seeing the familiar figure etched in stone down below, a statue now proudly standing by the town hall, holding the world in the palm of its hand. Danny has to admit he made a pretty cool statue.

A soft chuckle escaped his curled lips; if he told Sam about the idea of him being a statue before the whole Disasteroid fiasco, she’d roll her eyes so hard they’d fly out of her head! He loved that about her, her sass, among other things.

Danny’s thoughts about his girlfriend were cut off from the growing sound of clamor back down on the ground, getting louder as he neared Fenton Works. He saw a mass of people gathered, holding signs around his front door, and immediately Danny assumed it was a mob.

It wouldn’t be the first time the Amity Parkers were pissed at his parents for confusing someone’s toupee for a furry ghost or accidentally flooding a Halloween pop-up store full of Fenton Foamer spray.

“Oh no,” Danny mumbled, “It’s worse than I thought…”  
  
“ **DANNY, PHANTOM! DANNY PHANTOM!** ” cheered the crowd.

Danny paled more, “Fans… just, wonderful.”

Not that Danny had any problem with admirers or fans of his heroic deeds, now that his secret has been exposed to the world over. But the decision meant some loss of privacy, meaning many people wanted him to sign autographs or pose for pictures… it was tiring after the first month.

Danny could see Tucker and Sam backed up to the stoop, as mixing voices wanted to know where he was. Zipping over, Danny landed between them and the crowd and put on his best smile, if a bit forced.

“H-Hey, everyone! What’s up?” He chuckled awkwardly.

The crowd cheered, waving posters or wearing Danny Phantom-themed shirts or hats.

“It’s him! It’s Danny Phantom!” squealed a large boy in a varsity jacket.

“Kwan, we’re both in Mr. Lancer’s English class,” Tucker reminded their classmate before Danny could interject, “You  _ just  _ saw him yesterday. We all did.”

“Ohh Danny,” A Hispanic girl cooed, waving her fingers to Danny, “I’m free tomorrow if you’d like to hang out, go shopping… buy me something pretty? Or protect me from those spooky ghosties~.”  
  
“Sorry Paulina, Danny has **plans** already,” Sam glared as she cut Danny off, taking his hand in hers and daring the popular girl to try something else, “He’s **booked**.”  
  
Paulina let out an “eep” and shrunk back, “She’s gonna put a spell on me!”  
  
“ _Bubble bubble, toil, and trouble_ ,” Sam waved her fingers tauntingly, making Danny unable to stop himself from chuckling at the display.

“Sam, be nice,” He told her.

“This  **is** nice,” Sam insisted.

“It’s true; I was expecting much worse,” Tucker added while the crowd started to move forward to the trio.

Over the questions about ghost fighting or superpowers, various cries of pain were heard, muffled but there. A young kid was pushed onto the steps before him, holding his head before Danny dared to find his voice.

“Hey,” He started but not loud enough before his eyes briefly glowed, and he cried out, “HEY!”

The crowd went silent before Tucker and Sam noticed the child as well. As Danny kneeled to check on him, Tucker addressed the crowd.

“As the Mayor of Amity Park, I call to disperse this gathering and for everyone to return to their homes!”

Tucker was greeted by unmoving silence.

“... please?”

“We could have Danny’s parents demonstrate some of their newest tech,” Sam quipped with a little smirk of her own.

“Oh, would you look at the time!” A blonde teen in another varsity jacket exclaimed, looking at his bare wrist, “C’mon Kwan, we’re missing the game!”

“Right behind ya, buddy!” Kwan agreed as the crowd quickly started to move on, away from Fenton Works and back to their homes.

“Are there spiders in my hair?!” Paulina asked in a panic, “I feel spiders in there! It’s all  **her** fault!”

Sam chuckled at the broken mob as Tucker wiped his brow, “That was easy… kind of.”

“Are you alright?” Danny asked as he helped the younger kid to his feet, and he had a better look at him now. He had glasses on, plus some of those Danny-themed clothes like the hat and shirt, underneath a black jacket.

“I guess so…” The kid sounded unsure, wobbling a bit as he stood, “That blonde kid knocked me over, and my head hurts now…”

Danny huffed. He’ll talk to Dash about that later.

“How about we get you some ice, just to be safe,” He suggested as he helped the kid to the door, where a red-haired girl was already standing.

“Danny?” She asked, voice soft, “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure, just, uh...” Danny looked to Tucker and Sam, who both nodded without a word.

“C’mon buddy, we’ll help you out,” Tucker told the boy as they took him inside; Sam was going to get some ice while Tucker kept him company in the living room.

Danny followed them inside, closing the door behind him before turning to his sister, “What’s up, Jazz?”

“Do you know what this is?” Jazz showed Danny a small metal box no bigger than a garage door opener. It looked old for sure, but a faint smell of smoke was wafting up from it.

“Yeah, it’s the little communication device Jimmy Neutron gave me,” Danny recalled with a smile before he realized, “Wait, you went through my room?  _ Again?! _ ”

“ _ Yes _ , but…!” Jazz stressed before Danny could complain further, “I had smelled smoke, and it was coming from this. I think something’s wrong with it like it just… broke all on its own.”

“Well,” Danny didn’t sound as worried, “He did give it to me a long time ago. It’s probably just old. I’ll have Tucker take a look at it later.”

“But wasn’t it used only once? For those orange blob things…? The Morphoids?”

Dann just waved off her concern with a shrug, “Like I said, it’s  _ old _ . The batteries might just be bad, but Jazz, really… you worry too much,” Danny motioned for her to follow into the living room with him, but she looked hesitant as she left.

She just looked at the fried device in her hand, “I have a  _ bad _ feeling about this…” She mumbled under her breath.

Danny went into the living room but paused mid-stride; Sam was holding a bag of ice but looked more than ready to beat Tucker with it, who was sitting down with his prized PDA in his hand.

“Where’d he go?” Danny asked, referring to the younger, injured kid.

“He said he had to go to the bathroom,” Tucker defended before a small boom came out of the basement lab, the Fentons made for their ghost hunting gear.

“Bathroom,  _ huh? _ ” Sam made a move to bean Tucker, who just flinched at her warning lurch.

“Hey, I’m not his babysitter!” Tucker defended before all four teens went down the stairs… or rather, three teens walked down the stairs, and the half-ghost just phased through the floor.

They found the young kid touching some Fenton tech on the table, as the lab was usually messy with parts and machines, the Ghost Zone portal standing ominously yet shut off at the back of the lab.

“Hey, kid, you can’t be touching that stuff,” Danny told him, reaching out to try and guide him back, “Let’s get back, upsta- _ HAH! _ ”

The kid turned suddenly with a large grin on his face, eyes bulging with excitement as for that moment, Danny felt himself flinching from the sight. Maybe it was how  _ big _ the kid’s head was that it seemed so unsettling?

“ **THIS IS SO COOL!** ” The kid was near screaming, as Danny’s friends and sister joined behind the teen hero, “ **I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO SEE REAL GHOST HUNTING TECHNOLOGY!** ”

“Why is he screaming?!” Sam asked, irate enough from Tucker not watching him before.

“Really, little guy, we need to get upstairs,” Jazz reminded, feeling creeped out herself.

“ **IT’S KINDA MY THING! DO YOU WANNA SEE SOMETHING COOL I’VE BEEN WORKING ON?** ” The kid continued before holding a round metal ball in his hand from his pocket with a big button on it.

“Oh cool, it…” Tucker blinked, “Sure is, round!”

Before Danny could take it for himself to see it, the boy suddenly leaped back as he pressed the button and lobbed the ball forward, beeping and flashing.

On instinct, Tucker, Sam, and Jazz all grabbed onto Danny, who in turn went intangible. This had happened all too often in their lives, and naturally, it meant that the ball would pass harmlessly through them, clang against the wall, and then they’d have a serious talk on how hard that kid hit his head.

But that’s not what happened.

What actually happened is that not only did the device come into contact with Danny’s intangible form, but it exploded into a scatter of red petals like some kind of flashbang. The teens were scattered, thrown back by the blast that knocked over bookshelves and spare parts alike in the already messy lab.

Danny’s vision blurred as he could just barely make out the kid in front of him, but he seemed… different. His posture was much more impersonal, and he wasn’t grinning like he was moments ago. It was something less enthusiastic and more…

Sinister.

“As if I wouldn’t be prepared... with a handful of Blood Blossoms,” The kid mocked as Danny finally got to his feet but faltered as one of the petals touched his skin. It burned, smoking red mist as his body felt like it was on fire, “ _ Really _ hard to come across something like that… I should restore more of them and open a pop-up shop someplace...”

Danny couldn’t believe what he was hearing, yelping as he tried to shake the petals away from him, with gritted teeth, “W… WHY are you  **DOING** this?!”

“ _ Meh, _ ” The kid merely shrugged.

Danny tried to return to his human form, a ring of light circling him before the kid chucked a larger device attached to a cable at Danny’s head, making him dizzy and causing the ring to vanish.

“It’s not personal… just a  _ means _ to an end,” The device’s cable was attached to a button, which the kid pressed and opened the machine up. It released a burst of light, not unlike what Danny used earlier to capture the Box Ghost, “Trust me, this is all for the greater good, but hey, whatcha gonna do?”

“L-Let me go…?” Danny managed as he felt his body being forced up in the air, suspended by the lights, but his breath hitched. He felt his breath being pulled out of his chest, down into the machine and connecting to it.

“Not likely.  _ Besides… _ ” The kid yanked the cord and pulled a suspended Danny back to him, stopping it with his foot as a pained Danny was helpless to look back into Dib’s immense stare, distorted with delusions of grandeur.

“Who knows when the  **ghosts** will rise against humanity too?”

* * *

  
  


Old parts were flying in the air as Dib was rummaging through boxes, already decked out in various Fenton devices and equipment, “OHH WOW! Look at this… thing!” He held what looked like a smooth raygun in his hands before tossing it over his shoulder, along with some wrist cuffs and a handheld device.

“Oh, and this… belt?” He held the Specter Deflector in his hands before tossing it away, unimpressed. He then grabbed something else, which just extended into a ghostly fishing line.

“... maybe I overestimated these people,” Dib was starting to have some doubts.

“Hey kid, you done goofing around?” Came Beautiful’s voice over a speaker.

Dib looked around before pulling up his right sleeve, revealing a green communicator watch. He glared at it, “I’ll have you know I’m amassing a stockpile of anti-ghost technology to compile into my repertoire!”

“Looks like you’re just playing dress-up…” Tlaloc dryly mused, earning some laughs from the others on the line.

Dib just huffed in response, quickly removing the goggles from his head, “What did you WANT?!”

“Did you take out the Ghost Boy?” Technus checked.

“Obviously.”

“His dork friend in the glasses?” Beautiful added.

“Yes…” Dib rolled his eyes.

“And the Night Girl?” Tlaloc rounded off.

“Who?”

“The meddling girl in black! She is always with him as he thwarts my brilliant plots for world domin-!”

“YES, yeah, I see her right here, girl in black, got it,” Dib cut Technus off before he got roped into a long-winded monologue.

“Wow, look at that,” Plankton sounded surprised, “Ya know, there might be hope for you yet, kid.”

“Gee, that means sooooo much coming from you pipsqueak,” Dib was heavy with the sarcasm on that comment.

“ **WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME, YOU FREAKISH BARNACLE H-!** ”

Dib turned the call off. Before the migraine could start to form, of course, his gaze looked over to the unconscious Danny, raven black hair a mess from the earlier scuffle. It then shifted to the Fenton Thermos that lay discarded on the floor, which Dib picked up to add to his collection.

“Now…” Dib tilted his head, “What do I do with you guys?”


	4. Sponge Squashed

Down in a pineapple under the sea was an otherwise silent bedroom beyond the soft snores from the pink shell lying at the side of the bed. The occasional air pocket of bubbles would help lull the creature into slumber since it was the same as white noise down in Bikini Bottom, but the smell of smoke didn’t work as well.

Wait, smoke?

The shell twitched before its owner curled out with sleepy eyes, sniffing the air as to what he could identify as having woken him up. Everything seemed normal; multi-layered bed with diving board, foghorn alarm clock, wooden chest, neatly hung square p…

Eyes went back to the wooden chest, which was currently smoking through the lock and sides. It was only quick thinking did Gary the snail take the nearest fire extinguisher and douse the object in foam.

It was always handy to have one around in a house such as this, with an owner such as his.

Gary growled in aggravation at the wake-up call, but curiosity got the better of him; what led to the smoke to begin with? There was nothing inside the chest that should have been flammable… at least not on its own.

“Mao…?” Gary slithered onto the lock before it suddenly popped open, near knocking the mollusk over in the process. He lowered his eye stalks inside and looked at a slew of (now mostly burned) photographs of his owner and three other friends.

What did he call them? Hue mints?

Eyes widened from what looked like the culprit in causing such a commotion, and he carefully pulled it out with his teeth, spitting it onto the floor. It was a small black device, but now looked broken given how it was briefly on fire.

Gary had no idea what it was for or what it was supposed to do, but it must have been significant if his owner had chosen to keep it. As another spark seemed to pulse off the object, Gary gave it another good puff of foam to quell the reaction.

After a moment of no activity, Gary mentally shrugged and went back to his spot by the bed. Maybe now he could get back to sleep.

“Mao…”

* * *

“Order UP! Krabby Combo with extra pickles!”

Spatula slapped the bell in the window before the clatter of a loaded plate scraped onto the metal below it. Just another beautifully busy day in the best restaurant in the ocean, doing the best job in the world, with the bestest of best friends right within shouting distance of him.

It was  _ almost _ enough to qualify for one of his Best Days Ever… but it wasn’t. For now, even above the sound of sizzling Krabby Patties on the grill or the clamor from the galley, there was still something weighing on the fry cook’s mind.

“Hey, Squidward?” He called but got no answer.

“Squidward?” Again, no acknowledgment.

A yellow hand stretched out through the service window and poked against the large bald head of the octopus operating the counter. Again. And again. And again.

“Squidward? Squidward? Squidward? Squidward? Hey, Squidward? Squidward, hey, Squidward? Hey, Squidw-”

“WHAAAAAT IS ITTT?!?!” Came the eventual reply, loud and seething in aggravation, Squidward crumpling the magazine he was trying to read in his tentacles as he glared daggers at the sponge who was unfortunately both his neighbor and his coworker.

SpongeBob just gave a longing sigh as he looked off to the side, out the porthole window to the building next door, as his shoes made small squeaks against the wooden floor, “How long…?”

“How long  _ what _ …?”

SpongeBob sniffled, “How long till I get to be manager?!” He gazed longingly at the building next door, proudly noted as being the Krusty Krab 2. Despite how new the building was, it was currently closed, with a sign advising patrons to go to the original location instead.

Squidward just rolled his eyes, “You bothered me for that again? You just asked me that five minutes ago!”

SpongeBob turned to Squidward, threatening to break down into tears, “BUT SQUIDWARD, HOW LOOOOONG?!”

“GAH!” Squidward cried in anger, “I TOLD YOU! When Mr. Krabs hires more help!” He turned his head back to his magazine as SpongeBob went back to the grill, still casting glances to the second store in the new chain, “Not my fault the old cheapskate never thought that more employees meant more paychecks… puh-lease…”

“Do you…?” SpongeBob wiped his nose with an arm, looking hopefully at Squidward, “Do you think it’ll be soon?”

“As soon as I grow a full head of hair…” Squidward sounded dejected as he said that, rubbing his head sadly as he sniffled.

Their conversation was cut short as the door to the dining area was kicked open, a large crab with big meaty claws scuttling inside with a barking tone, one demanding compliance and attention.

“SPONGE-BOB!”

Hearing the whistle blow from his boss, SpongeBob stiffened himself in a salute, “AHOY MR. KRABS!”

“Today’s the day, boyo!” Mr. Krabs had a big grin on his face, which SpongeBob matched in intensity and caused Squidward to raise a skeptical brow.

“Why do I not like that grin…?” The cashier mumbled.

“What’s today, sir?” SpongeBob was bouncing up and down in anticipation. It could be ANYTHING! “I wanna know, I wanna know, I wanna k- _ eugh! _ ”

SpongeBob and Squidward both winced as another fish had walked in with what looked like sunburn. His fins were like sticks and divided at the ends that looked like fingers. In fact, he didn’t appear to have any fins on his body outside of the frills that came out of his head. He barely had any clothes on either, just some brown towel around his waist.

“Oh, fish paste…!” Squidward covered his mouth and made a run for the restrooms, suction cups making noise with every step. SpongeBob gulped.

“A-aah, hahaha… nice to meet you, pal,” SpongeBob put on a brave face. He feels like he’s seen something like this before. After all, some fish grow up near those toxic waste dumps, and it’s not their fault that they do!

“Why…  **thank you** …~” The new fish put on a large toothy grin; some would say forced. SpongeBob just chuckled nervously and pulled his boss over.

“Daheheh, ah, Mr. Krabs? Who is this?” He half-whispered.

“The answer to your prayers, lad! And my answer to some peace and quiet…” Mr. Krabs added the last part in a grumble, “This feller here is gonna be our new fry cook!”

SpongeBob gasped, “Mr. Krabs… you’re replacing me?!”

The older crab blinked, “What? No! He’s gonna be fry cook so I can have both of me restaurants open at once! Which means making more money!~”

SpongeBob instantly squealed, “REALLY?~”

“Really! And he already comes with fast food experience! Ain’t that right, err… Terry was it?” Mr. Krabs was so caught up in making money; he honestly didn’t pay much attention to it.

Terry just nodded, “I’ve dedicated my life to turning things into  **whatever** I set my mind to...~”

“That’s the spirit, Terry!” Mr. Krabs chuckled at this prospect. He’s already agreed to work as an intern first. This means, no need to pay him outside of Mr. Krabs’ second favorite kind of pay: experience!

“Now, SpongeBob,” Claws would start guiding SpongeBob away from the grill and over to the door, “Let Terry get his bearings while you man the post Mr. Squidward abandoned. This is comin’ out of his pay, the loungeabout…”

SpongeBob could only give Terry a side glance as he was moved but managed a reassuring wave to the newest member of the Krusty crew. This was looking to be one of his best days ever after all!

* * *

  
  


“Patrick? Patrick, helloooo!~”

SpongeBob snapped his fingers a couple of times and roused the dazed starfish from his stupor. He had fallen asleep in front of the counter thinking on what to order, much to the annoyance of the customers behind him who had given up on waiting and just left altogether.

“H-Huh?” Patrick shook his head, blinking as he looked to his best friend, “SpongeBob?”

“Yes, Patrick, good morning… er, afternoon.”

“When you’d get in my house?”

SpongeBob chuckled a little at the comment, “No, buddy, you’re in the Krusty Krab! You fell asleep in line again.”

“Ah, sorry, SpongeBob,” Patrick rubbed his stomach as he gazed up at the menu hanging above them, “I haven’t been sleeping good lately. Maybe I’m just hungry…?”

“Aw, I’m sorry, pal,” SpongeBob perked up, having an idea, “Tell ya what! Would you like the Krabby Patties on that table over there?” The sponge pointed to one of the ship wheel tables, covered with a large platter of the famous burger the restaurant was known for, “Mr. Krabs wanted me to put them away for tomorrow’s morning crowd, but you can have them!”

“Really?~” That woke Patrick up, eyes wide as he started to drool… well, drool a bit more.

“Uh-huh! Mr. Krabs said I could cover it in my pay, plus interest since it’s the third Tuesday in the month!” SpongeBob was just happy he could see his friend happy; that’s all that really mattered.

“ALRIGHT!” Without so much as a thank you, Patrick suddenly lumbered over to the table and started to stuff his face… but the mumbling with a full mouth and the thumb’s up was just the acknowledgment SpongeBob needed.

“Hey, SpongeBob!” Came a female voice with a Southern accent, clad in what looked like a spacesuit with a flower on the helmet, “Whatcha doing outta the grill? You look more outta place than a scaleless sidewinder!”

SpongeBob cheerfully skipped over to his friend at the door, “Oh hi Sandy! Mr. Krabs just hired a new fry cook, so I can start managing the Krusty Krab 2, isn’t it wonderful?!~”

Sandy rubbed her chin… or rather, the glass over her chin, with a smile from seeing him so excited, “Well, that’s a mighty fine stroke of luck! Are they any good?”

“He says he has prior experience,” SpongeBob swooned, “So, I know everything that comes out of that kitchen is gonna have with a big smile on its face!~”

The door to the kitchen was slammed open as a creature had exposed itself to the greater portion of the restaurant. It gave a throaty growl, as glowing pink eyes were the only vibrant color from the dark brown slop that made up its body. It had the same consistency as burger meat, from the way it dripped and plopped on the floor.

SpongeBob could only gasp in response, cowering behind the unshaken Sandy.

“That definitely doesn’t look like a smile,” Sandy mentioned as another walked out behind it, then another. The fish who were already in the restaurant naturally started to panic, scrambling around in blind hysteria.

“ **MY LEG!** ” Cried a fish, having tripped over one of the barrels used for seats as what could only be described as some kind of Patty Monster loomed over him. It then lurched forward, forcing itself down the fish’s throat. The fish gurgled for water at the action, swallowing it whole and almost immediately falling asleep where he laid.

“HIII-YA!” Sandy leaped forward with a flying kick, sending a Monster splattered over the wall as she followed up with a karate chop, “What in tarnation is goin’ on back there?!”

“I-I’m awake!” Squidward barged out of the restroom in a confused panic, a strip of toilet paper stuck to one of his four legs and his magazine on his head, “What I miss?”

He turned to his side and saw two Patty Monsters grinning at him. Squidward could only scream as the creatures jumped onto him, the three falling back into the restrooms.

“NOOO, SQUIDWARD!” SpongeBob cried out as a Patty Monster leaped at him next. Stunned, it crawled into his mouth… but SpongeBob braced himself, and the animated meat instead funneled itself out of his pores like a burst ketchup packet, “Sandy, don’t swallow ‘em!”

“Ngh,” Sandy started to get outnumbered, as multiple patrons around them were falling asleep left and right. She tapped her helmet with a smirk on her face, “No worries there! Now get on over here and  _ help _ SpongeBob! I’m getting swamped deeper than a Texas-sized cowpie with an any-sized boot!”

Readying his nerves, SpongeBob gulped and got into a more action-oriented stance, “Hang on, Sandy! I’m coming! I’MMM RE- _ aaahhh _ ...”

Mid-battle cry, a handful of spices were thrown into SpongeBob’s face, getting into his eyes after they flew from Terry’s fin. His vision started to blur, the room spinning as he couldn’t tell which way was up or even down.

Once he righted himself, the Krusty Krab seemed to have fallen into darkness… more so Mr. Krabs wanted to save money on electricity and cut the power early. But there were no customers, no monsters, just a sponge in a spotlight.

“Uhh, whathappa…?” SpongeBob mumbled, “Um… Sandy? Terry? Mr. Krabs?” A faint moan was all the response he got, making out the silhouette of Squidward over the dimmed lights, “Oh Squidward, there you are! Have you seen Sandy or Terry anywhere? I think Terry still needs a few lessons before he’s Krusty Krab material…”

Squidward in question was actually covered in tainted burger meat, with the same glowing eyes as the Patty Monsters as he groaned, shambling towards SpongeBob and making the sponge jump back.

“AAAAAHHH!” He cried, “You’re not Squidward!” As he turned to run, he was stopped by Sandy and Terry, also turned into Patty Monsters, and then Mr. Krabs and Patrick when he tried to run the other way.

“WHAT IS GOING ON?!” SpongeBob found an opening to run, so he started to sprint, but no matter how much he ran, he didn’t seem to go anywhere.

“ _ THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE DAY! _ ” SpongeBob looked over his shoulder, seeing the growing masses of fish turned Patty Monster shambling after him.

“ **WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BEST DAY EVER?!** ” SpongeBob was panicking, heart beating a mile a minute as all his friends’ forms started to mesh together, forming a giant Patty Monster that looked like a monstrous Plankton, about to stomp right on top of him.

“ **NO, NONONONO! NOOOOOOOO!** ”

* * *

  
  


“N-Nooooo…” SpongeBob mumbled from the floor, squirming slightly between snores as he was clearly having a nightmare. The sight was enough for Tlaloc to truly smile, stepping on the sponge like a doormat as he surveyed the restaurant.

“Simply  _ too _ easy…” He chuckled to himself, “Honestly… I just walked in the front door. Clearly, that speck of  _ salt _ lacks something only I possess.”

He sighed and put two of his fingers to his temple. He focused his magic, calling out the others with his mind to establish a communication channel.

“The Krusty Krab is mine,” Tlaloc reported, “Everyone is now nice and snug inside their personal  **nightmares** …”

“Even SpongeBrat?” Plankton sounded heavily skeptical from the question, which made Tlaloc scoff.

“He’s as useful as a doormat at the moment, and,” The witch doctor cut off what was going to be Plankton bombarding him with questions doubting his effectiveness, “ _ Before _ you ask… I have pinky and the rat in turn.”

He looked over to Patrick, collapsed on a table of ruined patties and a lone bushy tail sticking out from a large mass of tainted patty meat.

“What about that squid fellow?” Technus wondered, “He too was a part of this prophetic farce against the Master of Technology… and assorted company.”

“Of no consequence,” Tlaloc dismissed quickly. He wasn’t even trying while the cephalopod napped on the restroom floor.

“Really?” Beautiful sounded impressed, “That makes this all rather fast…  _ I like that _ ~”

“Yeah yeah, whoop-de-doo,” Plankton was seething internally on his end; Tlaloc could feel it. That negativity pleased him, “Look, I warmed ‘em up for ya!”

“How  **did** you do that?” Dib asked in confused amazement.

“I will tell all about my  **simple** and  **well-deserved** victory at a later time,” Tlaloc had a smirk on his face, adding those words just to push Plankton’s buttons, “But if you all recall, I have more work to do here…  _ evil work~. _ ”

“No, I meant, how are  **YOU** talking on here with us  _ without _ any kind of device?” Dib clarified.

Silence followed, meaning Dib was likely ignored on purpose.

“Hello? Did you hear me?! I said-!”

“ **ANYWAY** ,” Plankton gave a small outburst as he tried to compose himself, “Go across to the Chum Bucket. Inside should be everything you’ll need to keep that evil ball rolling!”

Tlaloc broke the mental link and walked outside, as more Patty Monsters were spawning from the Krusty Krab kitchen behind him, all from the cauldron that Tlaloc passed as a cooking pot.

“ _ Well now _ ,” He gazed up at the gigantic bucket-shaped building across the street, “This might have some  **merit** after all…~”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

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